Dhurandhar’s strong box office run has once again put the spotlight on how films make money in India. Riding on the film’s success, Aamir Khan said at a recent event that the country needs more cinema screens. He argued that a higher number of theatres would help production houses earn more. Film distributor Akshay Rathi, however, has publicly disagreed with the actor’s view.
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Akshay Rathi questions the need for more cinema screens
Comparing India with China, Aamir Khan had pointed out that India has significantly fewer theatres. Responding to this, Akshay Rathi made a post on his social media handle. Where the film distributor said, "..with due respect, Mr @AKPPL Official, which is the last film you made, which warranted a release in each of the 9000 + screens in India? Or even in the 4500 odd screens in the Hindi speaking markets? Happy Patel, Laapata Ladies, Sitaare Zameen Par etc have had very limited metro focussed releases & been completely irrelevant for the long tail of the existent exhibition sector."
Rathi further added that the current business environment is already witnessing strong growth. "Trust me when I say this, sir - Indian business entities are enterprising enough to build the infrastructure you're talking about in record time, but the fuel for it is content that finds appeal with the grassroots of our markets, being made & released with some consistency," he said.
Distributor cites market realities behind box office success
Countering Aamir Khan’s example of Dhurandhar, Akshay Rathi questioned the broader applicability of the argument."You spoke about Dhurandhar & its potential business if it had released in a hypothetical 15000 screens. How many films in an year do the kind of numbers that Dhurandhar did? Or have as wide a geographical impact in terms of footfalls in cities, towns & villages that have a cinema hall today?" he asked.
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At the same time, Rathi praised Aamir Khan’s contribution to cinema. "As an exhibitor, I assure you, my fraternity will leave no stone unturned in building more screens, if content creators like you can start making films that find appeal beyond urban India, which is already super saturated with screens.I promise, I respect you from the bottom of my heart for the amazing films you've made back in the day, many of which continue to be my all time favourites," he said.
